--- In streetcricket@yahoogroups.com, "cricketersday" <chirag@...>
wrote:
>
> Some call Sourav Ganguly the best captain India's ever had : a person
> who led by example, and exuded aggression in his teammates.
> Others called him a pain in the neck.
> But the important question is What do you think??
> -Chirag

REPLY :

Ganguly he was very good captain india never had, after kapil dev,
ganguly he is the 1st successful captain for india.

http://www.crix.in/searchVideo.php?search=ganguly


Sourav Ganguly has announced his retirement from the game, the former
India captain said on Tuesday.

Ganguly said he would be retiring from the game at the end of the
India-Australia Test series, which begins in Bangalore on Thursday.

After being controversially included for the four-Test series, Ganguly
revealed that even he was surprised at his inclusion, but added that
the stress forced him to take a decision on his career.

"I have decided to quit. This will be my last Test series," Ganguly
told reporters in Bangalore on Tuesday.

"I have informed my team of my decision. I hope I'll end my career
with a winning knock," added the 36-year-old.

Bangalore, Oct 3 (PTI) India coach Gary Kirsten today said the Test
series against Australia would be an intense "mental battle" and a win
will boil down to which of the two teams handle the high-pressure
atmosphere better.
"Lot of the time (in the series), it's going to boil down to what
happens in a pressure situation", Kirsten said on the coming four-Test
series against Ricky Pointing's side.

"Who is going to be calmest in that (pressure) situation ... Who's
going to back himself and believe in himself ... I think that's what
it's going to boil down to", Kirsten said.

The first Test begins at M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on October 9.

Kirsten said with the two teams almost evenly matched, the series
promises to be nothing short of a cliffhanger.

"We know that Australians will be well prepared when they come and
they would have done all the homework," he said.

But the Coach insisted that India is well-prepared to meet the Aussie
challenge.

"If one takes into account the statistics over the last 20 Test
matches between India and Australia, it can be seen India has got the
best record against Australia of all the Test-playing nations," he said.

Kirsten said the Indian team has got a "good idea" of what they want
to do against the Australians and how to match them. PTI

	 HOME CLOSE

http://www.crix.in/searchVideo.php?search=srikanth+cricket

The new selection committee is expected to meet on the October in
Mumbai to select the squad for the Tests against Australia. And former
CNN-IBN cricket expert and the new Chairman of Selectors, Krish
Srikkanth spoke exclusively to CNN-IBN's Meenaskshi Mahadevan about
his new job and the challenges.

I am very happy. I will like to thank the BCCI for giving me this
opportunity to be the Chairman of Selectors of the Indian cricket. And
I think it is a great honour. I am not only representing the BCCI, we
are representing the entire cricket loving nation.

It's going to be an accounting job and there will be a lot of
pressure. But, I can assure you that we can take the pressure.

The first task is to select the best possible team to play against
Australia. That is the short term or the immediate goal. In the long
term, we will have our eyes on the 2011 World Cup. So, probably
develop a team towards the 2011 World Cup. It's a slow process.

It's every Indian's dream to win the 2011 World Cup after 1983.

guess Gaurav Kalra and Meha Bharadwaj (CNN-IBN anchors) are going to
sit now and say that 'the Chairman of the Selectors should have done
this. It was a wrong move.' I think I have to be nice enough to accept it.

Basically, having been a former player and a captain for India, we are
all used to criticism. And everything cannot go right, everything
cannot happen the way you want. There are times when things go the
other way and there are times when people are going to praise you and
criticise you. Having been a cricketer, I think I know how to take it
in the right spirit.

[Click here]

   <http://www.forwards4all.com>
Harbhajan wants to shed his bad boy image
<http://cricket.forwards4all.com>

   [www.forwards4all.com]  <http://cricket.forwards4all.com>

Sydney, Sep 24 (IANS): Harbhajan Singh has vowed to shed his bad boy
image that put India and Australia on a warpath last summer.

Harbhajan said he was sick of being known as international
cricket´s chief trouble-maker and is ready to clean up his image.

`I am sick of all the bad boy crap, I´ve no interest in
hearing about how controversies follow me wherever I go. I´m
going to stay away from all that.´

`It´s always important to learn from your mistakes.
I´ve learnt my lessons, good and bad, the good things teach you
stuff as well,´ Harbhajan was quoted as saying in The Australian
Wednesday.

The fiery off-spinner was involved in a race row with all-rounder Andrew
Symonds in the controversial home series. Harbhajan allegedly twice
called Symonds a monkey - the first time during last October´s
one-day series in India and the second in the tumultuous Sydney Test.

His escape with just a fine after a charge of racism was downgraded to
verbal abuse still angers several Australian players.

Matthew Hayden even labelled Harbhajan as `obnoxious little
weed´, landing the Australian left-hand opening batsman in
trouble.

Harbhajan has been successful in playing the Aussie mind games through
out his career and will be once again India´s trump card in the
four Test series starting Oct-9 in Bangalore.
   <http://cricket.forwards4all.com>
   [www.forwards4all.blogspot.com]
NAT GEO Photography. See all Amazing Pics.
<http://forwards4all.com/mails/natgeo-photo.html>

Melbourne, Sep 22 (IANS): Australian captain Ricky Pointing said the
deadly suicide attack in Islamabad justified their decision not to visit
Pakistan for the bilateral series and the Champions Trophy.

Cricket security expert Reg Dickason confirmed that the Pakistan Cricket
Board (PCB) wanted the Australian team to stay in Mariott Hotel, where a
devastating bomb attack killed 53 people Saturday, during the Test and
one-day tour scheduled for March and April this year.

The tour was abandoned over safety and security concerns.

South Africa and other teams pulled out of the Champions Trophy,
scheduled Sep 12-28, also due to security reasons. The tournament had to
be finally postponed by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

`It´s devastating for the people involved,` Ponting
said about the blasts.

`I mean, we would be talking hypothetically, of us being in the
hotel or England or South Africa being in the hotel,´ Ponting was
quoted as saying in `The Age´ prior to the team`s
departure for the four-match Test series against India.

Ponting said they were right to listen to the advice of
Australia´s security experts and the department of foreign
affairs.

`It is an absolute shame that things like this continue to happen
in Pakistan because, believe it or not, as players, you want to play in
all the conditions around the world,´ he added.

If the Champions Trophy had been played as scheduled originally, the
England and South African teams may have been at the Marriott Hotel when
it was virtually destroyed Saturday.
   <http://cricket.forwards4all.com>
   [www.forwards4all.blogspot.com]

Ricky Ponting believes Andrew Symonds has taken some major steps towards returning to the Australia team by admitting his behaviour over the past year has been sub-standard. Symonds was at Queensland training on Tuesday, where he signalled his intentions to work his way back to international cricket, and Ponting was pleased with the development.

"I actually think there were some really positive signs over the last couple of days with Andrew," Ponting told AAP. "He's actually fronted the media and admitted that there's some room for improvement in certain parts of his life."

Ponting was not in Darwin when the team leadership group ejected Symonds from the recent ODI series but he was involved in the decision by phone. Ponting will be leading a Test squad in India next month without Symonds, who was not considered for selection as he continues his Cricket Australia-organised programme to get him back on track.

"He's a terrific player and his Test record and one-day record over the last couple of years for Australia has been outstanding," Ponting said. "Hopefully for him as a person, if he can get those things sorted out, then we'll have him back in the team."

This is the worst time for the Indian cricket, as the man who drove
India to a huge 17 test victories as compared to the paltry 14
victories in the entire test history of Indian Cricket before the year
2000.

Its seems that its all over for the legendary cricketer Saurav
Ganguly, the selectors has shown him the doors and they have send the
message to him that he should take retirement from the cricket.

The man who gave India some most remarkable moments to Indian cricket
which we all cricket lovers will cherish for ever.

http://thecricketingleague.blogspot.com/2008/09/its-all-over-for-bengal-tiger-sa\
urav.html

[2]
Sharad Pawar: 'He [Dhoni] is an ideal role model for millions of young
Indians who want to make a mark in life'

M S Dhoni to receive Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna

August 4, 2008



Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India's one-day and Twenty20 captain, has been
chosen for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the country's highest
honour for a sportsperson. He is the second cricketer after Sachin
Tendulkar to receive the award. Dhoni led India to victory in the World
Twenty20 in South Africa last year and the tri-series in Australia in
2008.



"We are very happy. He has represented the country with distinction, and
deserves the honour," Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, said. "His
exemplary leadership and demeanour under pressure, especially in the
Twenty20 World Cup and the tri-series in Australia, has made him an
ideal role model for millions of young Indians who want to make a mark
in life."



BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty said what impressed
him most about Dhoni was the way he conducted himself. "What I like most
about him, apart from his cricket, is the way he leads," Shetty said.
"He is a cool customer and never gets agitated. He displays clarity of
thought and speaks his mind even if it may not be seen in the right
sense."



An official announcement would follow after August 20.

Gilchrist dreams of Twenty20 at the Olympics

August 4, 2008


   [2]
Adam Gilchrist has high hopes for the game over the next 12 years

Adam Gilchrist is leading a player push for Twenty20 to be included in
the 2020 Olympics, believing it is an essential step in securing the
game's global future. With the start of the Beijing event less than a
week away, Gilchrist says the cricket "pipedream" is a "potential
reality" following the success of the new format and the Indian Premier
League.

"It doesn't matter where the 2020 Olympic Games are held, but many of us
who've experienced international Twenty20 cricket and the IPL are
convinced that cricket should bid to become an Olympic sport in time for
the Games," Gilchrist wrote in the Deccan Chronicle. Cricket was part of
the 1900 Olympics before being cut, but last year it gained "recognition
status" from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for two years.

"We have a responsibility to grow our game in new territories and
amongst the women of the world," Gilchrist wrote. "I believe the Olympic
Games is the vehicle the sport should use to aggressively sell the
message of our sport to all 202 competing Olympic nations, so our sport
is strong and robust in countries where it is currently played, and
exciting and ground-breaking in countries who haven't yet caught the
'cricket-bug'."

To receive "programme status" at the 2020 Olympics, cricket would need
to be approved by the IOC at a meeting seven years before the event.
Twenty-six sports are part of the Beijing schedule and there are
currently two vacancies for future Games. Golf, karate, baseball,
softball, rugby sevens and roller sports are among the disciplines
currently competing for the right to be involved in 2016.

Gilchrist believes it is time to start serious lobbying. "Between 2009
and 2013 cricket would promote itself to the IOC as a prospective sport
and, if we get it right, cricket will be invited to the Olympic party in
2020," he said.

Each Full Member cricket board has been asked by the ICC to have two
national men and women players complete Olympic questionnaires. The
responses in Australia have been favourable and Gilchrist, a key
performer in the IPL, has also sounded out excited colleagues from
Australia, South Africa and England.

Gilchrist experienced the surge of interest in Twenty20 during his time
with the Deccan Chargers earlier this year and is convinced the IPL
revolution has "changed cricket forever". Now he wants the BCCI's
officials to work with the ICC to help take it to the Olympics.

"They would be investing in the future of the sport because by having a
men's and women's competition at the Olympic Games many more countries
would be drawn to cricket," he said. "It wouldn't surprise me if
countries like the USA, China, Italy, France and Japan become
competitive very quickly in Twenty20, especially in women's Twenty20. I
believe that in time the success of cricket at the Olympic Games will
lead to more Test-playing nations, something that the sport will need in
the coming century."

Gilchrist feels the aim is realistic. "The Olympic movement knows it
needs to increase its presence in the Asian subcontinent as India,
Pakistan and Bangladesh contribute nearly 22% of the world's population.
In theory, this is a win-win for the Olympic movement and the ICC and
its members."

India collected only a silver medal in Athens in 2004 while Pakistan,
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh failed to finish in the top three of any event.
Cricket would dramatically increase each of the nations' chances of
reaching the podium while lifting interest in the subcontinent.

Next year's Twenty20 World Championship in England will be held over 16
days, one day shorter than the Olympic programme. Supporters of
cricket's push believe the length of the tournament - and its
high-energy matches - is another valid reason for its inclusion.

The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) today formally announced that the
Champions Twenty20 League will be held in India in September-October
but were still undecided on the fourth participating country in the event.
IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi, Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland,
Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola, IPL CEO Sunder Raman and ICC's
principal advisor I S Bindra held parleys to decide on the event.

Two top domestic teams from hosts India, Australia and South Africa
will be seen in action in the tournament, which will be held from
September 29 to October 8 and a final decision on the fourth country
will be taken later.

Altogether eight teams, clubbed into two groups, will vie for the
honour in the USD six million tournament.

The finalists of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League --
Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals -- will represent the Indian
challenge.

Considering that India's first Test match against Australia in the
home series is scheduled for October 9, a day after Champions League
concludes, it remains to be seen how the Indian players like skipper M
S Dhoni cope with the situation if Chennai manages to reach final.

Originally the tournament was to be held in England but the bitter
bickering over BCCI's reservation about presence of rebel ICL players
in English counties and other issues forced BCCI to change the venue.

The England Cricket Board is now trying to launch its own version of
Champions League in Sharjah.source : PTI

Ending weeks of uncertainty, the International Cricket Council (ICC)
today announced that Pakistan would continue to remain the host for
next month's Champions Trophy despite security apprehensions.
After the ICC Board members held a teleconference, Pakistan Cricket
Board (PCB) Chairman Nasim Ashraf told a news conference that the
tournament would remain in its original venue after all the members of
the board had taken a consensus decision.

ICC also appointed a special task force to oversee and review the
implementation of a comprehensive security plan for the tournament.

Ashraf also singled out the Indian Cricket Board for its support to
have the ICC event in Pakistan despite security apprehensions.

England and Wales Cricket Board chief David Morgan, BCCI President
Sharad Pawar, ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat, broadcasters Representatives,
Ashraf, principal advisor to ICC I S Bindra and a representative from
Nicolas Styne will be on the special task force.

Pakistan ran the risk of losing Champions Trophy due to security
issues and top players of Australia, England and New Zealand are still
apprehensive about touring the trouble-torn country for the tournament
starting on September 11.

ICC held a security briefing on Sunday for the participating nations
before deciding to hold a teleconference to find a solution. source : PTI

Dhoni is exhausted after playing a whole year of non-stop cricket
starting from World Cup last year to the recently concluded Asia cup.
He's resting. Guess who will be the next captain... I really feel that
they'll supersede Yuvraj Singh (who has not been in form nowadays) and
make Sehwag the captain of the ODI side.
Whats your take - who will it be?


-Chirag

India's lost again.......yet again in the Finals.
Someone really explain why India wins their league games against any
and every country but lose in the Finals!!
Please..please tell me why??
Chirag

The Cricket Board today said it has not received any intimation from
India's ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to exclude him from the Sri
Lanka-bound squad.
The BCCI was reacting to media reports which claimed that Dhoni was
set to pull out of the Sri Lanka tour as he was tired of playing
non-stop cricket. India are scheduled to play three Tests and five One
Day Internationals during the tour of Sri Lanka to be held from July
18 to August 29.

"He was in the same flight with me from Karachi but he did not say
anything at all," BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah told PTI.

"If at all there is anything, we will know tomorrow," Shah said.

The selectors will meet here tomorrow to pick the squad for the Sri
Lanka tour, besides naming a list of 30 probables for the Champions
Trophy.

Dhoni has been critical of the hectic Asia Cup schedule and the Team
India captain found support in coach Gary Kirsten, who also felt that
Dhoni was feeling tired and needed a break.

After yesterday's defeat in the Asia Cup final in Karachi, Dhoni was
asked to clarify if he was pulling out of the Sri Lanka tour.

The ODI captain, however, evaded a direct answer and said things would
be clear in the next couple of days.source: PTI

India overcame the daunting target of 308 with great ease helped by a
lot of half-centuries by Indian batsman namely Sehwag, Gambhir, Raina
and Dhoni. Captain Dhoni won the MoM for his crafty 67 in the dying
moments of the game to take India to a comfortable victory.
Thats a big revival after the loss to Pakistan.
Now its India vs Sri Lanka final! Gaining a win, and consequently
psychological advantage, India look strong going into the finals.
If they manage a win, it will propel them to joint 3rd behind Aussies
and South Africans.
Hoping to watch the whole final!
chirag

India set a mammoth total of 308 with Captain Dhoni hitting a
captain's knock of 76. Contented that the match is with India, I slept
off.
The morning came as a shocker - somehow Younis Khan and Misbah stood
rock solid towards the end to rap the match in style with 8 wickets to
spare and 27 balls more to play!!
Great match - and even better highlights.
Misbah's first outing as captain has rewarded the ever-sliding
Pakistan team and given them fresh confidence to go to the finals.
Obviously, India would not take it lying down. We'll be the first to
call war on Sri Lanka in our match later in the week - Only then will
it be clear who makes the finals.
Enjoy future matches!!
Chirag

hi guys..the day of 26th is unforgettable..bcoz india will broken the
record tat never won pakistan from 1988 asia cup...wat a great innings
from sehwag n raina..by this no doubt tat india will won asia
cup...jai india...

For the first time in an Asia Cup, India have beaten arch-rivals
Pakistan in what looked like a one-sided matched following the
blistering knocks of Sehwag, Raina and Yuvraj. Ultimately Raina was
adjudged Man of the Match.